Not to jump on the bandwagon, but does anyone else think Perkins might be the guy to push Thunder from the very good to elite team status? Durant-Westbrook is one of the better 1-2s in the league, especially in pure scoring and creating, and they have a bunch of guys that can score a bit, now a ton of guys who can rebound, and finally a presence defensively in the paint. Perkins was always the quiet part of the Celtics but you could always tell that he really combined with KG to be the defensive anchors of that team.

Granted, I don't think Ibaka, Sefolosha, Perkins is as good as a lot of 3-5s out there (yet) but I like the lineup a lot more with Green and Krstic out. This was also a team that played LA hard last year in the playoffs and clearly is better this year while that's hard to say about the Lakers. I also think in a Thunder vs Spurs matchup it's a toss-up based on which explosive tandem shows up more.

If only Westbrook wasn't a turnover dishing machine this team would be outstanding.

Also, what happened to Mike Miller? Why did the Heat pay him 30$ million dollars again?

Damn, they really needed to give him $5M per? Especially for 5 years? I'm surprised they couldn't get either him or a similar veteran for way cheaper. Heat, you're doinitwrong. Teams like those are supposed to be able to underpay for players looking for a ring.

Damn, they really needed to give him $5M per? Especially for 5 years? I'm surprised they couldn't get either him or a similar veteran for way cheaper. Heat, you're doinitwrong. Teams like those are supposed to be able to underpay for players looking for a ring.

Not to mention they could have just kept Dorrell Wright or Daquan Cook.

Also, what happened to Mike Miller? Why did the Heat pay him 30$ million dollars again?

It's because the Heat thought Mike Miller would be a great spot up shooter. He hasn't been a good scorer in 5 years. Just look at a few years ago he was on a horrendous T'wolves team getting 33 minutes a game and was only averaging 9 points a game. The fact is that Miller's best attributes is his ballhandling and passing, problem with the Heat is that Dwade and LeBron already have that covered and even when Miller makes good passes Wade and Bron aren't spot up shooters who can capitalize. That's why I thought Miller really should have gone to LA where Fisher, Blake, Kobe, etc, actually can play off ball and shoot off passes. Miller is a solid defender and rebounder, but because he is utterly useless offensively in Miami he is a huge waste of money.

Dwyane Wade is very frustrating to watch. He can be so dynamic, but he relies too much on the refs whistle. Slamming into Ibaka/Perkins/Collison and trying to get calls while throwing up circus shots wasn't going to get it done. .. oh and the horrible jump passes he's fallen in love with. And his 3-point heat checks when he is an awful 3-pt shooter.

That being said, he is good for six spectacular plays per game and 25-5-5-2-2 on good nights so obviously his flaws are not large in the big picture.

Imagine being a Kobe fan over the past fifteen or so years.

*Kobe trapped in a double team, nowhere to go*

Me: "Don't do it don't do it don't do it, please don't do it NO DO NOT TAKE THAT ******* SHOT YOU IDIOT"

Also, being in the northwest right now....ton of talks about New Orleans coming to Seattle and the Sonics coming back into the league. They have already put down the designs for the new stadium, just a matter of finding the location. Ill look for a link.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by 49erNation85

I wouldn't be sir prized if he passed McCoy on the depth chart. I think he might have a better arm and accurate arm then him from the highlights I thought. He also got some wheels too help us prepare for QB's as Wilson , RG3 and other runners etc.

dont recall posting in this thread last night #celebratingstpaddiesdayearly

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my scent?...like making love to a lumberjack
<TACKLE> i will ngata give you a bj raji
<+BOE> Scott, with Burfict's character concerns (whether legit or not) you think Pioli would draft him. :D
<+ScottWright> Why not. Baldwin does need a sparring partner...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermstheman83

What's with the hate on Ricky Stanzi? Those youtube clips of him with the hulk hogan theme music instantly make him better than Luck.

And they were exquisitely executed. In fact, two of the possessions yielded buckets for guys other than Wade or James. On the first, the Trail Blazers converged on Wade as he turned the corner and glided into the paint, so Wade kicked the ball out to Chris Bosh, who was spotted up to the left. Two points.

A few minutes before halftime, Wade split Wes Matthews and Gerald Wallace, and delivered another kickout -- this time to Chalmers, whom Andre Miller left to help out on the Wade-James action. Three points.

Some of these sets against Portland didn't come out of the Heat's elbow action with James playing the 4, but were garden-variety top-of-the-floor numbers. A couple of others looked identical to the three left-side actions against the Bulls.

But on two possessions in the first half, the Heat went small -- and LeBron James rolled to the hoop for four of his easiest half-court points of the season. The first set was Chicago redux: Wade turned down the screen to drive baseline. Wallace shaded LeBron as he sank low to ensure Wade didn't get to the rim, so Wade shuttled the ball over to LeBron.

Ball-fake, dribble, layup.

The next LeBron James roll occurred after he pasted Matthews on the screen. With Matthews on the wrong side of LeBron after the switch, all it took was a simple bounce pass into the lane from Wade. LeBron didn't even need a dribble -- he simply collected the ball and laid it in, as Marcus Camby couldn't contest quickly enough.

Against the Spurs, one of the Heat's best-looking sets came in an ATO, or after-timeout situation (see the 1:19 mark). Wade drew Richard Jefferson on the switch, pump-faked, got Jefferson in the air, drained the shot, and-one.

All in all, the Heat have run 14 James-Wade pick-and-rolls in their past six games. They've recorded baskets on 11 of those 14 possessions for a total of 25 points. (I'm counting the Wade miss and immediate putback because his capacity to collect his own shot was a direct result of the pick-and-roll.) That's a 78.6 percent success rate and 178.6 points per 100 possessions.

It's absurd to believe the Heat would score upward of 150 points if they ran a Wade-James pick-and-roll several dozen times per game, but why does it seem more likely you'll see a porpoise swimming alongside a jet ski in Biscayne Bay than the Heat run an action that has devastating implications for the defense? Since that pivotal drive in the Lakers game, the Heat have run exactly two James ball screens for Wade in two games -- zero in a loss against the Thunder.

Why are the Heat not utilizing this? Back in August we all drooled at the theoretical dominance of such a set play, yet for whatever reason they didn't think it was a good idea until March, and then they don't use at all against the Thunder when they were ice cold from range...

maybe it is part of their diabolical plan to hide their best plays until the playoffs?